Leon took aside all the trainees who were under sixteen. James, Alex, Eric and Terrance all lined up.

"Alright listen. Officially we can't have people under sixteen in the Force. So in order to compensate for that problem and to keep parliament off our backs, we send you to another base outside the UK for what is affectionately known as 'survival training'."

"Where do we go, sir?" asked Harry.

"Well, since the number of under-aged trainees vary from year to year, it's done by a lottery of sorts. So you're all going to come up and draw a card. Whatever you get is where you go."

One by one they all drew a card. Harry discreetly looked at it.

"Read them out loud boys. Depending on where you got, it could take a week or a month of vacation for you."

"US SOCCENT Air Base in Qatar," he read out.

"Nagasaki Air Base," read Eric.

"Cairo Air Base," said Alex.

"Area 51..." said Terrance.

Four pairs of incredulous eyes stared at him.

"Seriously?" said Leon.

Terrance grinned.

"Actually it says somewhere in Colorado Springs."

Harry whocked him a good one.

"I'll let you know when the arrangements are made. Return to the base outside London for news."

Harry went to Grimmauld place and told Sirius and Remus the news that he would be spending a year out of England. Which prompted a party courtesy of Sirius and the twins.


One Week Later...

Sirius went with his godson to the base.

Leon looked up from his curse (paperwork), and saw the two.

"Hello James. Here to see if they're ready for ya?"

Harry grinned at him.

Leon looked at his papers and then back at the two. He handed the top one to the kid who read the disclaimer. Since they couldn't legally train him overseas without consent, he had to sign a paper saying he understood the dangers of what he was about to do.

He signed it after reading it all the way through. Leon made sure it was all in order and filed it away.

"You have two weeks to get ready before you fly to the base. I recommend getting gear for the desert, because Qatar is in the Middle East."

"Which means it will be hotter than hell and limited water," surmised Harry.

"And you'll be surrounded by muggles, so your magic should be limited to life threatening dangers and unusual circumstances. While you are there, you are advised to work on your hand to hand, shooting and ability to survive any situation. You will follow orders given to you by superiors, and if you get into too much trouble you will be kicked out of the Royal Air Force* and put into the British Army."

Leon said this with an air of long practice.

Harry waited patiently and paid attention to what Leon said.

Leon told him the usual fair of those who ended up in the Middle Eastern assignments.

He would have to pay close attention to the locals, assist US troops when needed, answer to anyone from his side of the 'pond' in case of an emergency first, keep track of water rations, and most importantly, try not to prank his new roommates too badly. That last bit was new, and only added for his benefit.

"In other words, Black, you are not allowed to prank anyone on the base using magic, however subtle. You'll have to learn how to do it the old fashioned way," said Leon with a grin.

Poor Sirius looked disappointed at that news. He had been hoping to teach his godson some good wizard pranks.

"You are however, allowed to beat everyone on that base at Poker and videotape the result," said Leon with an even bigger smirk.

Harry laughed. Everyone who played against him knew that he had the best Poker face on any base.

"Now, as your Commanding Officer, I want you to really work on your aim with a gun. Your hand to hand needs refining, as you have only mastered the basics of the arts. As for your flying skills..."

Leon pulled out a new bracelet for him. On it was a tiny helicopter, a new plane he didn't recognize, a parachute, his Firebolt and a small bag.

"Go ahead and ask."

"What kind of plane and copter are these?"

"The plane is an EF2000 Typhoon class. The helicopter is a Griffin class. Now since we can't very well let you fly it alone, we're sending another trainee with you from the Raven Wing."

"What? I thought girls and boys trained separate?"

"Well it turns out that one of the girls got the same base as you. Don't worry about that. She's only going to be your co-pilot. Other than that you'll be in separate quarters."

"Is that why I have two aircraft?"

"One of them is yours. The other is hers. You happen to have the highest potential for flying, which is why you have both. The Griffin is Angel's once you reach the base."

Since Leon had to finish the transfer paperwork, Harry was dismissed. Sirius decided to help him pack, since he wouldn't be able to see his godson for a few months.

The little bag on the bracelet turned out to be a infinite bag. Which made packing a lot easier.

Sirius secretly packed several potions (brewed by Snape himself once he heard about the transfer), several books on the restricted list by the Ministry (including one he wrote with James years ago on Animagi transformations), and a mirror. He would have given it to him last year, but Harry wasn't allowed to bring his Christmas presents back with him to the base.

He told Harry about the Mirror and the other items, but not about the pranks he personally made with the twins. He couldn't get into trouble if he didn't know they were there now could he?

Harry, once he found out about the fact that any food put in the bad stayed in the same state as when he put it in had an inspiration.

He went to the store and had Sirius freeze twenty large packs of small water bottles and put them in the bag. Now he would have cold water whenever he wanted. He also put in fresh ingredients so he could cook food when the grub served at the base got to be too much.

Since he was going to a place where it was a hundred degrees in the shade, he firmly told Hedwig to stay with Sirius.

Hedwig gave her nestling a questioning look.

"Look girl, the base where I'm going is going to be very hot. And while I know you can stand the cold, I don't want to chance you getting a heat stroke while I'm away. So please...keep an eye on Sirius for me?"

Hedwig understood her nestling's concern. Sirius was cooped up in this depressing house. It was more than enough for Sirius to do something stupid that could get him killed. And Hedwig always had a sixth sense for when her nestling was going to do something reckless and stupid.

So she hooted and landed on Sirius. He seemed to take the hint as he said "Hey! I'm not that reckless!"

Harry smirked.

"Could have fooled me."

Which prompted a wrestling match in the living room which the twins quickly joined in along with Remus. Fred and George had taken to living with Sirius and Remus once their mother found out that they opened the joke shop without her knowing.

Molly Weasly was currently on the warpath.


Harry checked the gauges for any abnormalities while Angel did a pre-flight check. They would be flying many hours to Qatar without any instructors around, and Harry wanted to make sure they got there in one piece. Inside the back was their standard issue packs for the desert, along with one odd addition that Leon reluctantly agreed to.

Since Hedwig was definitely not allowed on the base because she had a higher chance for heat stroke, Harry had gone into Diagon with her to pick out another owl.

(He had to bring her along, since once he got back the two would be sharing a post and he wanted to make sure she didn't kill the new owl.)

This one was still an owlet, or baby owl. She couldn't fly just yet, but she was much more suited to flying in the heat.

Harry had named her Gylfie after the movie he saw the day before. According to the clerk Gylfie was an elf owl. She had all the standard spells that enabled the owl post to work. The only thing he would have to do is train her to fly long distances.

His main relief about the tiny bird was that she was nothing like Pigwidgeon.

"All sensors are in the clear," announced Angel.

Harry double checked each reading, and started the launch. Leon had given both of them the papers that signified that they were trainees. They had to give those to the man in charge of the base once they landed. Harry had also been given the locations of all the fuel stations in the route, just in case.

"System is all clear. We are a go for launch," said Harry over the intercom.

And to think, last year I was stuck at the Dursleys with no options...

"Copy that Prongs and Aki, you are clear for take off," said Leon, "And good luck."

Harry carefully lifted the lever and the copter took off. It was a controlled flight, with no bumps. Somehow he knew Leon and the other captains were silently grading their take off. Once they reached a high enough altitude, they began heading in the direction of the base.

They had been in the air for fifteen minutes when Angel finally spoke.

"That was sure nerve-racking, wasn't it?" she said over the intercom.

"Oh, that was the easy part. Now we have to find the base and land, remember?" said Harry with humor.

Angel snickered.

They made good time to Qatar, as they reached the base around evening.

"This is Trainee Prongs and Akidoshi."

"Land on the designated area and present your I.D.," said the Commander.

Harry carefully landed the helicopter and powered down. They got out and presented their official I.D.

"James, you're with Captain Lennox. Angel, you're with Captain Anne. You'll follow their orders unless I tell you otherwise."

"So you're the new guy? Aren't you a bit young for the army?"

"Technically I'm in the British version of your Air Force," said Harry.

"How old are you?"

"I turn sixteen at the end of July. Why else would I be doing survival training?"

Lennox decided to forget about the fact that a fifteen year old was in the military. Instead he opted to show James around the base, so he wouldn't get lost. And it took him a good hour to finally note that yes, there was a small bird on his shoulder.

"Why do you have a bird on your shoulder?"

"Hm? Oh, Glyfie. We were allowed one personal item to take with us, and my other owl wasn't suited for desert life. So I decided to buy this one to keep me company."

"You...own two owls."

"One is a Snow Owl, and this one is an Elf owl."

"Do I even want to know?" Lennox said bored.

"Not unless you want a headache inducing question to come to you," joked Harry.

"Did you...did you just make a joke?" asked Lennox surprised.

"Maybe."

He actually looked relieved. Clearly he assumed that Harry was from a strict military family for him to have joined so young.

"I also prank people too," grinned Harry.

Lennox grinned back.

"Okay boys, we have a new recruit. This is James Black. James, this is Epps, Figg..."


It took less than a month before Harry grew bored enough with the base that he pranked someone. That someone happened to be Epps.

Lennox, while impressed with the ingenuity of the prank, had to give Harry something to do as punishment. That something was peeling potatoes and cooking dinner for the entire base.

(Two hours later...)

Lennox walked into the tent where he left James and stared. James was sitting down reading a book while four large pots of potatoes boiled. Next to the pots were four large turkeys, three hams and five large game hens. Each were seasoned and the only thing which had longer to cook were the turkeys.

"How...?"

"How did I find all this good food?"

Lennox was speechless as to how James not only found all this food, but had learned to cook and cook well. (That, and how he managed to peel and cut over five hundred potatoes in less than two hours...)

James looked up from his book, grinning.

"That...is a secret. Besides, my aunt wasn't the most pleasant person to be around. I was the one who cooked all the food in the house when I was old enough to reach the stove."

By the time the call for dinner came out, everyone was very surprised by the change of food. More so that it had been one of their British recruits who had done it.


Harry crept among the sand dunes. According to their intel, there were insurgents waiting to ambush the next supply plane. If they succeeded, they would have military grade weapons to use on American forces.

There!

Harry saw the glare of a lens from twelve feet away. He lightly touched the comm unit on his ear.

"Lennox. What's your twenty?"

"Dude...you have watched way to many military movies. And we're about five feet away from you on the left."

"In that case...the guys we're looking for is twelve feet in front of me."

"I can't see 'em."

Harry had an idea.

'Gylfie!' he hissed.

His little elf owl had taken to training well. When he called her, she came. And all he had to do was point to an odd bump and she circled.

Glyfie let out a cry and took flight. She was high up enough to mistaken for a desert hawk, while at the same time alerting Lennox and the others as to where the target was.

"Remind me never to complain about your pet owl again," said Lennox as they closed in.

Harry grinned. He had gotten more than one weird look because he owned owls. But aside from the odd looks, no one complained about her for one reason.

She kept the scorpion population down.

Hedwig on the other hand, got more than odd looks. Not only was she big, white and feathered, but she also tended to stick on Harry the entire time.

On the plus side, she taught Glyfie how to fly and take letters. So Harry let her stay long enough to write Sirius and Remus back. She came once a month, always staying for three days at a time.


Harry was excited. This was his first trip to the small off-duty area of the base. He usually spent his days off reading or training Glyfie.

But today Lennox, Epps and Figg were dragging him there. He usually avoided the area because of the alcohol. (And even then only because he was underage.)

"I told you guys before, I don't want to dance!" whined Harry.

"Tough. You're fifteen, you're on one of the hottest bases in the world, and you spend way too much time by yourself. You are going to the dance hall Jamesie," said Lennox with a smirk.

"And what's stopping me from having Glyfie attack you?" asked Harry, amused.

"I'm your commanding officer and could have you washing everyone's laundry for a week?" answered Lennox.

"I have been through worse hell than doing laundry and the water would cool me off," countered Harry with a smirk.

"Peeling potatoes?"

"Everyone loves my cooking."

"Cleaning the windows of every jet and plane here?"

"Same problem with the laundry champ."

"Cleaning everyone's guns."

"I would have them done in three hours."

"Debugging the computers."

"In the A/C and everyone would blame you when all the lines crash from being in close proximity with me. Face it Lennox, you can't win for losing with me," grinned Harry.

Epps and Figg laughed at him.

An idea came to Lennox and he smirked.

"You would have to deal with Figg speaking in a language you don't understand for five hours."

Harry laughed.

"Hey Figg, mind teaching me Spanish?"

The other two groaned. Figg had an irritating habit when he was vexed. He always switched back to his birth tongue of Spanish, which almost no one else spoke on the base.

It was one of his more irritating traits.

Once he got there, it was clear Harry was a wallflower.

"Come on James, you can't be that bad with the girls," said Epps.

"Oh, it's not my ability to talk to girls that is bad...it's just my luck. Hell, there was a school dance once and beside the required waltz I stayed in the shadows the entire time. My date had to go with another guy!"

"So basically you're just shy."

"I have horrendous luck and have never had a girlfriend. What do you think?" said Harry annoyed.

Harry wasn't the only wallflower in the club. Angel was talking to Anne, and neither made a move to the dance floor. So, taking the opportunity at hand, Lennox shoved Harry towards the girls.

"What the 'ell Lennox?" growled Anne. She had an odd accent.

"Jamesie needs to quit being a wallflower, Annie."

Her resulting growl from that nickname sounded disturbingly like Sirius or Remus when angry. It was that of a dog.

"For the last time, Major Lennox, if you must give me a nickname, call me Sakura. I hate Miranda and Annie!"

"Sorry Sergeant. But maybe you could work some of your magic to help Jamesie?"

She glared at him and he backed off.

"Your real name?" she asked Harry.

"Harry."

"As in that who boy-who-lived crap? You aren't the same kid who owns that little owl are you?"

"Glyfie."

The sergeant grinned at him.

"After that movie called the Legend of the Guardians, the Owls of Ga'hoole?"

"That's the one."

"Good movie. Alright, so why are you in a dance hall when you don't want to dance?"

"Lennox and the others dragged me here, and I didn't feel like yelling for Glyfie?"

Anne laughed.

"Then how about we find something more interesting to do?"

"Like what?"

"There are a few officers holding a poker tournament in an hour..."

"I'm in!"

Lennox showed up halfway through and ended up cursing Harry out. Once again, the boy-who-lived was known throughout the base as the 'boy to beat at poker'. It also got Lennox, Figg and Epps off his case to spend time with the other soldiers, since whenever he wasn't reading, taking care of Glyfie or his plane he was out playing cards or basketball with the others.


He was actually having fun while away from England. Which was good, because the reports he was getting from Sirius, Remus and the twins wasn't as good.

In fact it was downright hard to read.

The casualties had begun to pile up. Fifteen Aurors, four Healers, and five Order members had been killed in the past three months. Fudge was trying to convince himself he had it all under control, but the truth was obvious even to the first years at Hogwarts.

Voldemort was back, and he wasn't going to stop until he was killed. Dumbledore was losing his grip on the school as well. Once word spread of where Harry Potter had really disappeared to, students began to change their career options very quickly. The twins secretly began to spread how well the boy-who-lived did as a pilot and a wizard, and the Royal Air Force suddenly got a boost in membership.

Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, Cho Chang, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott all joined the Royal Air Force within a month of the truth getting out. Rumor had it that the twins were planning on running their joke business on the side while they applied for two years.

While that meant they would be better prepared to handle whatever came their way, it also meant that Dumbledore was steadily losing his pawns. And he was infuriated by that fact.


He was up in the clouds, doing a basic reconnaissance mission. He wasn't allowed to engage anyone without being fired upon first. Which was fine by him.

He still sucked at shooting things midair. Angel was flying in the opposite direction, checking for anyone stranded in the desert. She had progressed quickly in the training.

Suddenly he banked to the left. Surely he hadn't seen what he thought he did?

There!

Someone was stranded. He was waving frantically for him to land, which was impossible. From what it appeared, the guy had taken a wrong turn while he was heading to the nearest village and had gotten stranded.

But Harry knew better that not everything was as it seemed.

He banked low to the right and scouted the area nearby. Something did not feel right about this. The man was clearly a local, and there hadn't been a storm recently. Why was he out here alone with no water bottle? The nearest oasis was nearly three miles away!

Harry kept his eyes open, trying to figure out what was wrong. He wasn't going to land if he didn't have to. Not unless he knew what the hell was going on.

It was the glint that caught his attention scant moments before he realized there a gun close the man's right hand.

The stranded local act was good. Too good in fact. Harry reached for his omniculars that he had kept with him from the Quidditch World Cup.

Using the magical binoculars, he spotted something he wouldn't have seen otherwise.

The man had a bomb strapped to his chest. There was no way in hell he was going to fall for that one!

"Base, this is Prongs. I have what appears to be a suicide bomber ten clicks from the base. He's trying to act like a stranded local. Over."

"Prongs, how sure are you about that bomb? Over."

"I happened to notice something was off and used my binoculars. I think I can tell a bomb when I see one."

"We're sending Lennox and his team now. Keep circling so they can see you. Over."

"Copy that, base."

Ten minutes later Lennox and his group drove closer to the local. Without warning the man reached into his robe and began to pull something. Harry didn't think twice. He liked Lennox and the others.

Before the cord could be fully pulled and Lennox reached the blast zone, Harry shot a single round from his gun. Much to his shock, the bullet managed to kill the suicide bomber.

Lennox reached the now dead man. He checked the man's robes and discovered a very nasty claymore bomb that had enough C-4 to have killed the team if Harry hadn't shot him down from the air in time.

Then Lennox noted something upsetting. The bomb was still active.

"Hey Prongs, can you detonate this bomb for us? If we don't do something with this it'll blow up some poor shmuck."

"I'll see if I can blow it up from here. But not until I know for sure you lot are far enough from the blast zone. Am I clear?"

Lennox drove the others at least two miles away from the blast zone. Once he was far enough Harry shot one of his bullets at the bomb.

The blast was deafening. They heard it clear to the base.

"What the bloody 'ell was that? What the 'ell are you doing out there Jamesie?" Anne was shrieking over the intercom.

Apparently the sentiment was shared by the Commander, because he wanted to know as well.

"Prongs, what the hell is going on out there?"

Lennox decided to step in and save Harry's poor abused eardrums.

"Sir, Prongs found a suicide bomber heading to the base. The guy had a claymore with enough C-4 to take it out. We had to detonate it before someone else did."

Much to their surprise, the combined voices of Anne and the Commander came through loud and clear on their next order.

"A little warning would be appreciated next time!"


Harry honestly had no idea it could get cold in the desert. But cold it was. And according to the others it can and would get colder by the time Christmas rolled around. Since he and Angel had spent Thanksgiving** practicing hand to hand combat (and getting a new belt to signify their advancement to the next level in at least two different styles of martial arts combat) they were going to enjoy Christmas.

Rumor had it someone was flying in trees, lights, even real fireworks. No one knew who it was, only that it was going to be a good year.

Of course Harry had the biggest surprise that year.

The pilot of the supply plane landed carefully. Inside the soldiers came out with large boxes, some of the crates were heavier than others. Lennox and the others helped carry the trees out, which looked none the worse for wear.

But it was the pilots that had Harry's attention.

"Sirius? Neville?"

Sirius took off the helmet and grinned at his godson. Neville had definitely changed since Harry last saw him.

Before the boy had been a wreck, always nervous and fearful, but a true Lion at heart. Now he was confident and calm. He had also bulked up in the muscle department.

"Jamesie! How smashing to see you!" grinned Sirius.

Neville smiled at his former dormmate.

"Gran said I could join early if I wanted. And I asked to be assigned here where I had someone around that I knew."

Harry grinned widely.

"You two any good at poker?"

It turned out Sirius had been in the Royal Air Force when he graduated Hogwarts with James. They accepted his wish to rejoin and allowed him to be stationed in Qatar with the new recruit. The fact that Harry happened to be their best pilot didn't hurt either.

It was the best Christmas he had ever spent. Sirius was with him, and the two set off enough Filibuster's fireworks to convince the locals they were setting off missiles. Everyone loved those. Between the partying and the games, it was a blast. The war they were there to fight was a distant memory for one night. And the presents sent by their families brought tears to several of their eyes.

By New Years everyone was resigned to getting back to work. With the addition of the newest recruit, it was clear that James and Neville were slowly changing things around the base.

Neville quickly gravitated to the medical tents, where his knowledge of local medicinal plants proved to be a boon. With his natural affinity for anything that grew in the ground, he shortened the length of time spent in the hospital beds.

James was clearly the man to beat at card games, and his flying was extraordinary. Even if he couldn't shoot worth a damn. Because of that slight flaw, he was the poster boy for the pilots. He did all his own maintenance.


Things were going great for him. He had friends he could rely on, the war between him and the darker side of the magical community was a memory, and he was slowly losing his shy personality around females his own age.

Much to the surprise of Harry and Neville, there was a joint birthday party for the both of them. Word had got around as to when their birthdays were.

(Harry blamed Sirius for spreading the truth around. He was going to hex his godfather the next time he saw him!)

Angel and Anne's birthdays had come and gone two months before. And unfortunately for the sanity of the menfolk, Anne was rubbing off on the once quiet girl from England.

Angel had been a calm and quiet personality who preferred to spend her off time either drawing or playing one of the few computers put aside for gamers.

Ever since meeting Anne (who had taken the girl under her wing), she had come out of her shell. The two were often seen plotting one prank or another on the men...who often complained that they couldn't do anything back because of Anne's rank.

Lennox was not one of those people, because rank or no, he still pranked them back. It was often a source of betting as to who would one up the other.

In that regard, Anne was definitely in the lead.

Aside from the minor embarrassment he had at the party, Harry rather enjoyed himself.

He even had a bit of joy as Hedwig was there as well, delivering his presents...mostly in the form of books. She stayed for a full week, and he knew he made the right decision keeping her with Sirius. Hedwig was started to look unwell from the heat.

She soon left with letters for everyone he cared about. Remus, the twins, Hermione, Sirius, and even Ron. Only four of those bothered to answer his letters.


*I mistook the name of the name of the Air Force in Britain. I will fix the name when I update the fic.

**I have been informed by my readers that they do not have a Thanksgiving holiday over in Europe, sorry about that mistake.